ECSC 8k (30:45)

18 Comments

Last weekend I ran and PRed in the ECSC 8k by over a minute.  Even though the events afterwords were unfortunate, I still had a great race and I did want to write a recap.

The race goes along with the East Coast Surfing Championships which are held at VA Beach every August.  Therefore last weekend the beach was much more crowded and parking was a lot harder to come by.  After finally finding a garage to park in, I was able to get my standard 2 mile warmup.

It was a smaller race start then I’m used too and didn’t see a lot of my friends there.  I tried to line up pretty close to the start since it wasn’t a mat start either.  Once we actually started I got into my normal groove.  I didn’t feel awesome but I didn’t feel awful either.

For the first mile I was caught up in the crowd.  There were a lot of people who took it out extremely fast and I had them pushing me.  The course was a straight flat road down and back. There are no hills at VA Beach and the only turn was the turn coming back. There was a lot of wind in one direction though.  During the first mile I was second female overall. (5:48)

I was about 50 feet behind the first female so I really locked her into my sights and tried to push to catch her.  We ended up running the second mile together.  During the second mile, a van backed onto the race course but luckily for us they were a bit further away so it didn’t interfere.  Mile 2 was a little bit of a blur (6:25).

The third mile included a round about turn and onto the boardwalk.  By this point, I had tried to pick it up.  Since we were going the opposite direction the wind was at our back.  I turned to the person next to me and said it should be pretty quick for the second half and it was like instanegative split.  A lot of the ECSC surfers were out cheering which made it pretty cool (6:16).

Mile 4, I started to just feel dead and was trying to hang on for dear life.  It was a pretty hard mile for me.  Since I’m not used to racing 8ks (I’ve done 3), it just felt like an extended 5k.  Two extra bonus miles (6:13).

There were a lot of tourists on the boardwalk for the last mile but I was able to get by them without any falls.  During the last mile, I had felt the other female behind me and she was gaining.  I tried to pick it up too but it was extremely painful.  I was really giving this race everything I had.  I really wanted to hold on for dear life and moved my legs as fast as they would go.  I knew I wasn’t going to have a good kick if it came down to the last 100 meters.  I barely stayed in front of her but if the race had been another .100 meters (If that) I can almost guarantee you she would have passed me (6:03).

Final thoughts on the race:

I honestly don’t know.  This was a great race for me but I don’t have a lot of positive or negative thoughts about the race itself.  I raced my hardest and PRed.  It was a completely flat and fast course (not counting the wind).

Questions for you:

Have you ever been surfing?

What is your least favorite aspect of a course?  (if it’s hilly, lots of turns …ect).

18 Comments

  1. You should be happy about the race itself. You won and set a huge PR! Congrats and I’m hoping that your arm heals up fast!

  3. Way to go! I’ve done one 8-K I believe (a Thanksgiving turkey trot if I remember correctly), and it’s a weird distance–right between a 5- and 10-K obviously, lol. In terms of racing, I don’t mind turns (famous last words, right?), but totally despise the wind.

  4. I’m so proud of you and the PR and how hard your pushed yourself to get that PR.

    I like courses that aren’t all of one thing. I.e. not all flat, not all turns, etc. Mix it up a little.

  5. Awesome job! Your speed leaves me in awe 🙂 I have always wanted to surf but never tried. It looks tough but fun. I am not a fan of hills but they are a part of every run. I can’t avoid them here in my neighborhood.

  6. Okay, first… I see your Instagram photo to the left with Wawa’s pumpkin spice coffee and just got the chills because I’m so excited. Seriously, I’m such a sucker for pumpkin coffee and this solidifies running season is on the horizon! Anyway, despite what happened after this race you STILL won first female. Even if you thought you wouldn’t have if there was an extra 100 meters, you still killed it and pushed yourself to a win!

  7. 8ks always *sound* like a good idea. Like, “Hey, it’s less than a 10k, right?!” but then you get to the 5k mark and you’re like, “Shit, man. Why isn’t this a 5k?” Way to gut it out! I also like the idea of surfer spectators. “Like, gooooo, man. You got this, brah!”

  8. Great PR! an 8k sounds like a weird distance to me lol i’m not sure how I would handle it. I like courses that change and aren’t all flat and boring. Even though hills bring some pain, the downhillis always nice…mostly. ha

  10. Great job and congrats on the PR!
    I don’t mind some hills, as my legs tire less than on super flat courses. Sharp turns bother me more, I think. And I hate wind.

  13. Good job! I always feel like if it only took like 6something to run a mile, I could run so far with no problem. But who has time to spend an hour running five miles?!

  14. I like the surf weekend down at the beach- it is a lot of fun to watch and I always see friends! You should be really proud of yourself girl, this was a great race for you and you held on and raced hard! I went surfing ONCE at surf camp… then I used the surf board to layout and get a tan 😉

  15. I love running 8Ks! That’s the “exact” distance I run daily. I start from my house, run downtown, and then back home in a beautiful, looping route! Man, you’re really fast, I’m inspired reading about your accomplishments, your tips/advice too … my PR is 35:44 btw.

Comments are closed.